Streetsblog Network

Complaining about traffic is practically a sport in Atlanta. Which makes sense, since traffic in the region is absolutely miserable.

If you're behind the wheel of a car, law enforcement will let you get away with just about anything -- even smashing into a house and pulverizing a crib where an infant was sleeping.

This is how it begins: Local leaders in Milwaukee commissioned a study examining whether the city's convention center is up to snuff. Surprise, surprise, reports Bruce Murphy at Urban Milwaukee: Hunden Strategic Partners, a consulting firm that loves convention centers, says Milwaukee really ought to be pumping a bunch of public money into expanding its convention facilities and a new arena for its NBA franchise, the Bucks. Oh, and a large publicly subsidized hotel wouldn't hurt either. This is the same outfit that did the study for Kansas City's Power and Light District, which has turned into a notorious money pit for the city.

The Congress for New Urbanism has posted a video of Jarrett Walker (of Human Transit fame) delivering a new presentation, "Learning the Language of Transit." There's a passage where Walker frames transit as not simply a mode of transportation, but a means to access to your city and, ultimately, the freedom and opportunity to do the things you want.

Back in the 1960s, planners envisioned a series of expressways slicing through St. Louis. And almost all of the Bartholomew Plan, as it was known, was eventually built. Today St. Louis has among the most highway lanes per capita of any American city. These roads teed up a wave of urban flight and astounding population loss.

Building the Purple Line, a major expansion of the DC-region Metro system in Maryland, seems like a no brainer. The project is almost fully funded, with federal, local, and private commitments covering most of the expense. It promises to spur development that will provide major economic benefits as well. Business groups in that populous and growing part of Maryland have been pushing hard for its continuation. But recently-elected Governor Larry Hogan has hinted that he may kill the $2.4 billion project since early in his campaign.

Here's a great example of how excess street space can be repurposed to beautify a neighborhood, improve safety, and bring people together. Branden Klayko at Broken Sidewalk shares this story out of Louisville, where a public utility helped a neighborhood fix a problematic intersection by building a rain garden:

Full docks are one of the big problems that bike-share users run into. Showing up at your destination and finding yourself without a place to return your bike adds time and erodes convenience and reliability.

This image of downtown Memphis caught the eye of Charles Marohn at Strong Towns. A parking wasteland topped by a tangle of highway spaghetti, it was taken, perfectly enough, from the Bass Pro Shop that now occupies the top of the Memphis Pyramid.